Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1542879
Pool reopening | FIFA World Cup | Grand staircase artist 8 WAC Magazine | wac.net Robert "Bruce" Johnston joined the WAC swim team in the late 1950s. He was 10 at the time. On the first day he arrived to ask about the team, former coach Bob Kasey noticed him lingering near the pool. "He told me to get into the far lane and swim 20 lengths," Bruce recalled during this past January's grand re- opening of the pool following a one- month renovation that replaced the natatorium's multistory windows. "I told him I can't do that," Bruce recalls. "Bob said, 'Yes, you can.' ose were the hardest 20 lengths of my life. When I was done, he said, 'Come back at 4 o'clock tomorrow.'" Bruce spent the better part of the next 10 years swimming for the Club team along with a couple of dozen other WAC kids. During that time, he collected countless ribbons at meets from Canada to California, carrying on a juniors swim tradition born in the 1930s by the likes of three-time 1932 Olympic gold medalist Helene Madison, for whom the WAC pool has long been named. e recent renovation was the first major upgrade to the pool since 2002. e improvement is most striking on a clear day, when sun streaming through the giant windows angles across the wa- ter's surface and dances in the depths. Pool reopening FIFA World Cup Grand Staircase artist Members in Motion "It looks great," member Ed Ventura, a pool regular, said during the grand reopening party, held on the overlook balcony. A few minutes later, a youth synchronized swim team jumped in for a 20-minute performance that audience members cheered from above. During the renovation, the wall pan- els surrounding the pool were also re- placed, brightening the space and adding a touch of sustainability—they're made of recycled plastic bottles—to the project. First Take Q U I N N T O O M E Y ( 7 ) Returning to the water Clear view ahead! Pool renovation sheds new light on historic gem